Dietary Supplements - Hype or Hope?

By: Christopher R. Mohr, PhD, RD

There are over 29,000 dietary supplements available.

From creatine to fat burners, whey protein to weight gain formulas.

What works?

What doesn’t?

Do you need a supplement to perform at your best?

While giving a talk recently to high school football players, I asked the team this question:

How many of you take a dietary supplement?

About 95% of the athletes raised their hands.

I then asked this follow up question.

How many of you ate breakfast this morning?

3 hands out of the entire team went out.

There is a big disconnect there.  Why is virtually the entire team taking a supplement(s) but not eating the absolute most critical meal of the entire day?

Dietary supplements are exactly as their name implies; supplements to the diet.

It’s important to remember, though, without a strong foundation of the right fuel for your body (from real food), supplements cannot make up for deficiencies.

When trying to decide if a supplement will enhance your performance, consider these tips and strategies first.

1. If it sounds too good to be true, it is!
2. Are any of the ingredients banned by a governing body or sporting organization (e.g., NCAA, IOC, etc).
3. Is every other single aspect of your training optimal (nutrition, strength, clothing, etc).
4. Is the product for your particular sport? A supplement that is supposed to increase power would not be warranted for a cross country runner, for example.

Always turn to an unbiased, quality source to assess the particular supplement.  Ads in magazines or on TV do not qualify as unbiased sources.

Real food is fuel.  Stick to the basics and you can perform at your best.

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Dr. Chris Mohr is on the Coaching Council at Football Coach U and is the creator of Complete Football Nutrition.  If you are looking for a football nutrition system, then go checkout the details on the Complete Football Nutrition here

Top 10 Nutrition Principles for Football Players

Top 10 ‘Keep it Simple’ Nutrition Strategies Infographic Made for Your Football Players

Sometimes, in order to have our athletes get results, we must make our instructions easy to understand and apply. Simple habits broken down, that can be applied can create big changes.

That’s what we did with our ‘Top 10 Nutrition Principles for Football Players’.

(Feel free to share the Infographic with your athletes)

1). Pump Up Protein. Eat some – at Every. Single. Meal. Most people eat a lot of protein for dinner and very little in the morning. The truth is, to build and repair muscle & keep you full throughout the day, people should aim to eat a handful of protein with each meal. More doesn’t give better results. But less can slow your gains. The portion should be equal to about ¼ of your plate.

2). Water Works. Divide your body weight in half. That is at least how many ounces of water you should drink each day. For example, if you weigh 200 lbs, you should aim for 100 ounces (8 ounces = 1 cup, so that means you’d be drinking about 12 cups of water daily). Make this simple by drinking 2 cups of water before each meal and then sipping more between meals and during workouts.

3). Start Every Day with 2 cups of Water. Drink 2 cups of water as soon as you wake up before eating anything or having coffee or tea. Then enjoy whatever that next meal will be.

4). Start with Breakfast. Fueling your body in the morning (after those 2 cups of water mentioned above) prepares you for the day – physically and mentally. Look for foods that combine protein (see #1), some whole grain and veggie or fruit. Try Greek yogurt, berries and some granola for example.

**If you are looking for a nutrition system made specifically for football players, go checkout the details on Complete Football Nutrition here >>

5). Fill Half Your Plate with Veggies & Fruit. Every time you eat, half your meal should be veggies and/fruit. Think ¼ of a plate protein, ½ veggies/fruit and ¼ grains. These give you nutrients that no other food can offer.

6). Don’t Skimp on Fat. Fat is healthy. Every meal should include some healthy fats – foods like nuts, salmon, egg yolks, olive oil, avocado and tuna all provide healthy fats to help the body stay healthy, recover and grow.

7). Fiber Matters. You get fiber from foods like beans, whole grains, veggies and fruits. And you need about double what you’re eating now. Most people eat half of what they need, so add in 1 serving of grains like oats, sweet potato, beans, quinoa or other similar foods each meal. When these are combined with veggies and fruits your body will have what it needs for optimal performance.

8). Snack Purposefully. If you’re actually hungry between meals, plan to have a smart snack – fruit and nut butter, veggies and hummus, a handful of nuts, etc. This can help give some energy you may need to feel better on the field and in the classroom. Just be cautious of the mindless snacks, meaning those that you eat simply because they’re there.

9). Eat Your Calories, Don’t Drink Them. The average person drinks about 450 calories each day – that’s about the same amount of calories as a large bowl of ice cream. Eat your calories using the tips above.

10). Consider Supplements … as Complements. Supplements should complement a quality diet, never in place of a quality diet. Start with Tips 1-9 above, then consider certain “complements” that may help.

Dr. Chris Mohr is on the Coaching Council at Football Coach U and is the creator of Complete Football Nutrition.  If you are looking for a football nutrition system, then go checkout the details on the Complete Football Nutrition here